Window shade trimmer



April 7, 1942* E. KEARNEY 2,279,046

WINDOW SHADE TRIMMER Filed Oct. 14; 1940 I 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 9142.: E. KEARNEY 2,279,046

WINDOW SHADE TRIMMER Filed Oct. 14, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w 5, Q I

1.2 I 0 I j 45 70 6Q 62. I 66 66 I I I 3 l I l I I I i 52..- I I I l I II l l I l I l I Patented Apr. 7, 1942 I UNITED. STATES. e;

6 Claims.

This invention relates to window shade trimmers. and is moreparticularly concerned with the provision of an improved device fortrimming the edges of. roll-type window shades after these shades havebeen attached to their rolls.

Generally, the device of the present invention consists of a headmounted to rotate about a rolled window shade with a means on the headto trim the edge of the window shade as the head is rotated.

It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a novel and improvedwindow shade trim.- ming device that can be held in the hand of theoperator during the trimming operation.-

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved window shadetrimmer which accurately and automatically centersthe rolled shaderelative to the cutting head.

An additional object of my invention is to provide a novel arrangementfor automatically centering and holding a rolled window shade relativeto a revolving cutting head.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of myinvention, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of. a device embody.- ing the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionalview taken along the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an edge view of a portion of the device.

taken substantially along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

The device of the present invention comprises front and rear annulardiscs and I2, respectively. The apertures through the center of thediscs are considerably larger in diameter than a.

roller shade to be trimmed by this device. Surrounding its aperture, therearward disc 12 is.

provided with a sleeve M, which extends through a similar aperture in anannular plate It secured to the rearward surface of the forward disc ID.The outward end of the sleeve i4 carries a removable ring I8 whichpermits the plate Hi to rotate relative to the sleeve l4, but preventsthe platev 1.6 from moving longitudinally relative to this sleeve. Thus,the two discs are mounted to rotate relative to each other for apurposewhich will appear presently. In order to prevent the forward disc fromwobbling relative to the rearward disc, the rearward disc is providedwith circumferentially spaced blocks 20, the outward faces of which bearagainst the inner surface of the forward disc. A knob 22 attached to theoutward end of acrank arm 2.4, securedin turn to the forward face of thedisc 1 0, enables the forward disc to be rotated manually relative tothe rearward disc.

As may best be seen in Fig. 1, the forward disc lilis provided with aradial reciprocable slide 28 adapted to move inwardly and outwardlytoward the center of they disc in guides 30. At its out-. ward end theslide 28' is. provided with a knob 32. The same. screw 34 which securesthe knob 32 to the slide 23 also secures a pivoted latching finger 3twhich when swung into latching position with the slide in its outwardposition, rests against the edge of the forward disc and prevents theslide moving inwardly. A bar 38' secured to they slide and extendingtransversely thereof, is attached at its ends to a pair of coil springs40, the opposite ends of which are attached to anchoring members 42secured to the face of the disc near its opposite edge." These springsresiliently urge the slide toward the center of the disc, so that whenthe latching finger 3,6 is released. the slide will move inwardly underthe influence of these springs. At its, inner edge, the slide 28 isprovided with a sharp cutting edge which in the present embodiment isformed by a'razor blade 4'4, secured to the slide by a pair of screws46. thus providing a low cost, easily replaceable cutting edge for theslide. In the interest of safety a guard member 41 is secured to theguides and" covers the edge of the blade when the slide is retracted.

The rearward disc I2 is provided on its rearward face with a pair ofslides 48 adapted to move radially in guides 50. The guides 50 are allarranged parallel to each other and thus the two slides 4j8 willmoveinwardly and outwardly parallel to each other. Each of theseslidescarries a rearwardly extending bent sheet metal member 52 that togetheract as V-blocks to grip a roller shade 54 to be trimmed. Each of theV-blocks 52 is secured to itsslide in such a position that a linepassing through the center of the .two V-blocks will ,bi-sect theannular discs and thus a roller shade gripped between these two V-blockswill automatically be centered relative to the discs along a linepassing through the centers of the two V-blocks. In orderautomaticallyto center a shade in the direction at right angles to theline passing through the two V-'.blocks, I have provided a novel linkagewhich prevents the inwardor outward movement of one of the slides .48without alike movement by the other.

similar slide.

As may most clearly beseen in Fig. 2, this link lel to the direction ofmovement of the slides. A second identical bar 56 is likewise secured tothe other of the slides 48 at one end and extends parallel to thedirection of movement of the slides. These two bars 56 are arranged.upon opposite sides of the V-blocks 52 and are spaced an equal distanceoutwardly therefrom. Near their mid points, the bars 56 pass throughguide members 58, which prevent the bars 56 from wobbling from side toside as the slides48 move inwardly and outwardly toward and away fromeach other. With the slides 48 retracted to the most outward positionthey normally assume, the free ends of the bars 56 are approximatelyopposite the centers of the slides. In this posi tion the slides areprevented against further outward movement by stop members 60 which, asshown, may be screws threaded into the rearward surface of the disc I2and against which the outward edges of the slides 48 abut when theslides have been moved outwardly to their desired retracted position.The freeends ofthe bars '56 bear against one end each of a pair ofrocker arms 62 which are pivoted at their mid points about screws 64threaded into the adjacent guide members 56. The opposite ends of theserocker arms 62 similarly bear against upstanding abutment members 66secured to the slides 48 a distance from the pivot screws 64 equal tothe distance between the pivot screws and the free ends, of the bars 55.In order to prevent the ends of the rocker arms 62 slipping over thetops of the abutment members 66, keepers 68 are'secured to the tops ofthese members and extend outwardly and overlie the ends of the rockerarms 62. Thus, the ends of the rocker arms 62 resting against theabutment members 66 are prevented against upward movement by the keepers68 and against downwa'rdward movementv by the body of the slides48;Likewise similar keepers 10 are secured to the ends of the bars 56 toinsure the" outward ends of the rocker arms'always bearing against theends of these bars.

Referring to Fig. 2, if it is considered that th left hand slide 48 ismoved inwardly as shown,

the bar 56 carried by this slide will be urged toward the right. Thefree end of this bar, therefore, will push the end of the rocker armwhich bears thereagainst to the right and rock the opposite end of therocker arm toward the left about the pivot screw 64. This opposite endof the rocker arm bearing against the abutmentrnember 66 will urge theright hand slide inwardly, and since the distance between the abutmentmember 66 and the pivot screw 64 is the same as the similar distancebetween the pivot screw and the free end of the bar 66, the outwardmovement of the free end of the bar 56 beyond the pivot screw 64 will beexactly the same as theinward movement of the abutment member 66 awayfrom the pivot screw 64.

Since the linkage arrangement is symmetrical, that is, since the righthand slide 48 similarly carries a bar 56 which rocks a rocker arm 62bearing against an abutment member 66 on the left hand slide 48, it willbe seen that, if the right hand slide 48 had been moved inwardly,exactly the same type of linkage arrangement would cause the left handslide 48 to move inwardly a similar amount. Likewise if considering theparts tobe in the position shown in Fig. 2, one of the slides 48 ismoved outwardly, the abutment member 66- carried by that slide will rockthe;

end" of the rocker arm 62 bearing against that wise, it isnot necessarythat the inward ends of the rocker arms 62' be pivoted to the abutmentmembers 66, but that rather the abutment members 66 and the free ends ofthe bars 56 merely bear against the edges of the rocker arms 62. Thisnovel linkage arrangement, which obviates the use of pivots at thesepoints, also avoids the mechanical difiiculty which arises from the factthat as the rocker arms are rocked from a position at right angles tothe direction of movement of the slides to a position inclined thereto,as shown in Fig. 2, it is necessary not only that the ends of the rockerarms pivot about these abutment points, but that the ends of the rockerarms slide somewhat relative to these ends. This sliding movement, ofcourse, in the arrangement shown is automatically taken care of,whereas, if pivots were used, the system would lock and it would benecessary, therefore, to use some type of complicated slottedarrangement in order to prevent locking of the linkage system, j

In operation, a tightly rolled shade to be trimmed is held in one handand the device of the present invention in the other hand. With the twoslides '48 pulled apart, the end of the roller shade is inserted betweenthe V-blocks 52 ,4 to approximately the position desired. The two"V-blocks are then lightly gripped in one hand and squeezed toward eachother about the shade 54 to center the shade relative to the discs l0and I2. The shade 54 is then moved axially slightly until it is in thedesired final position relative'tothe razor blade 44. With the shade inthis'position, the 'V-blocks are tightly squeezed together to preventfurther relative movement between the trimming device and the shade,while with the other hand, the latch 36 is released from the edge of thedisc In so that the springs 40 will urge the slide 28 toward the centerof the disc and bring the edge of the razor blade 44 againstthe rollershade to be trimmed. With the-razor blade thus resiliently urged againstthe roller shade, the crank 22 is swung around to revolve the disc I 8and razor blade 44 carried thereby 'relative to the disc l2 and theroller shade carried by this latter disc, and as the razor V blade 44revolves around the roller shade and is resiliently urged thereagainstby the springs 40,

theblade will cut through the roller shade.

After the cut through the shade has been completed; the blade 44 willcontinue to cut slightly into the wooden arbor upon which the shade iswound. This can immediately be detected throughthe. increased resistanceto rotation of the disc ID. "This is brought about by the factthat therazor blade does not bind as it cuts through the roller shade material,but does bind as soon as it cuts slightly into thewood of the arbor. Atthis' point the rotation of the disc I0 is stopped and the knob 32seized to pull the slide 28 outwardlyto its retracted position where itis secured by means of thelatch 36. The grip upon theV-blocks 52 is thenreleased and the shade slid endwise from the shade trimming device.

It will be seen that the device above described accomplishes theobjectives of the present inven tion and that this device need not besecured to a bench or table, but may be carried in a toolbox or may bekept in a drawer and that the operation of bringing it from the box ordrawer and putting it to use to accomplish its purpose, I

is an operation which can be accomplished in a very short time withoutthe necessity for first securing the device to a table or bench andwith- V out the necessity of adjusting various members in order tocenter the shade to be trimmed relative to the cutting head.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desireto secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a roller shade trimmer, a pair of roller shade gripping members, acutting head mounted to rotate relative to said members, said gripping,

members adapted for movement inwardly and outwardly toward and away fromthe center of rotation of said cutting head, linkage means connectedbetween said gripping members to cause inward or outward movement of oneof said gripping members to produce similar movement of the other ofsaid grippingmembers, said linkage means including a pivoted member,means actuated by inward movement of one of said gripping members forrocking said pivoted member in one direction, and means actuated by themovement of said pivoted member in one direction to produce inwardmovement of the other of said gripping members, and resilient means tourge said cutting head toward its center of rotation.

2. In a device of the class described, a pairof roller shade grippingmembers, a cutting head mounted to rotate relative to said members,slide means to permit inward and outward movement 7 of said cuttinghead, said gripping members adapted for movement inwardly and outwardlytoward and away from the center of rotation of said cutting head,linkage means connected between said gripping members to cause inward oroutward movement of one of said gripping members to produce similarmovement of the other of said gripping members, said linkage meansincluding a pivoted member, means actuated by inward movement of one ofsaid gripping members for rocking said pivoted member in one direction,and means actuated by the movement of said pivoted member in onedirection to produce inward movement of the other of said grippingmembers, and resilient means to urge said cutting head along the slidemeans and toward its center of rotation.

3. A roll trimming device comprising, a pair of slidable roll grippingmembers adapted to be held in. the hand of an operatorand squeezedtogether against a roll to be trimmed, said gripping membersconstituting a handle by which the/device is held, means to cause inwardor outward movementof one of said members to produce similar movement ofthe other of said members, a slidable cutting head and means by whichsaid cutting head can be rotated relative to said gripping members.

4. A roll trimming device comprising a. pair of roll gripping membersadapted to be held in the hand of an operator and squeezed togetheragainst a roll to be trimmed, said gripping members constituting ahandle by which the device 1 is held, a cutting head mounted to rotaterelative to said members, cutting means on said cutting 7 head adaptedto be moved inwardly into roll cutting position and resilient means tourge said cutting head toward its center of rotation.

5. In a. device for trimming roller shades, a handle by means of whichthe device canbe held in the hand of an operator, saidv handle beingadapted to embrace a roll to be trimmed in a position substantiallyco-axial with the handle, a cutting head rotatable relative to saidhandle, means to support a roll in cutting relation with respect to saidcutting head, means to rotate said cutting head around said roll, andresilient means to urge said cutting head toward its center of rotation.

6. A roll trimming device adapted to be held together with a roll to betrimmed in the hand EDWARD KEARNEY. V

